Black Shard saw the Lego Ninjago Movie
by Black Shard
Summary: I was lucky to watch the Ninjago Movie today but I need to let out my opinions. As always, you do NOT have to agree with me. Also, there's a few optional-to-read plans for my movie-verse Chosen by Destiny fic. As expected... MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET, DON'T READ THIS!


**I need to let out my opinions of the movie, which I got to see on the premiere day after doing good at the dentist (No cavities! Hell yeah!). Again since not everyone may have seen it yet and if you haven't… why are you here? There's gonna be MASSIVE spoilers! I'll warn you one last time. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET & DON'T WANT TO GET SPOILED, LEAVE NOW! Okay, on to business.**

My overall opinion of the movie is…

Okay. That's it. Just okay.

Being a Lego movie, there were some really emotional parts, had heartwarming messages, & I can feel the heart & soul the writers put into it but at the same time, it was far from perfect. But really, there's no such thing as a perfect movie & I was prepared for the movie to have flaws, which it did, & even then, I still found myself enjoying it. But there's two flaws in particular that kept the movie from being downright fantastic.

First is the pacing.

There were a bunch of moments that were rushed & choppy, or just dragged out, especially in the first act & epilogue. There were supposedly important things in the movie that ended up being completely useless, some issues were resolved too quickly without proper explanations, & there were a lot of moments where the humor felt forced. Also, a lot of stuff from the trailers & other promotional material was never used in the movie. But then again, I've seen a lot of movies where the pacing was much worse so I'll try to be grateful for that.

Second and the biggest setback of the movie was that it was full of the trope known as 'They Wasted A Perfectly Good Character'.

I was really looking forward to seeing the rest of the ninja after having to witness their derailment in the show but to say I was disappointed is an understatement. The ninja had absolutely no character development, no 'big' scenes, or moments that establish their characters & they had very few lines. Everything you've read about them in official material & promos are nothing but informed attributes. There were zero hints of Jay's crush on Nya & besides Kai saying 'That's my sister!' in one of the fight scenes, the siblings never interacted, not even once. They (even Lloyd) didn't get the weapons they were said to have such as Zane's bow & Cole's hammer & they didn't even interact with each other, which I was really hoping for. If the ninja sans Lloyd were taken out of the movie, nothing would change. That's how badly they suffered from this trope & it's downright saddening. Even Koko, despite being a much better mother than Misako, got only a small handful of scenes. While Garmadon doesn't suffer from this trope, my biggest issue with him is that he felt kinda rushed, particularly in the ending.

Even to a lesser extent, I feel Lloyd was hit with this trope too. He had complex feelings & emotions & had actual character development but it revolved entirely around his relationship with Garmadon & at times, I felt his characterization was a bit rushed. There were glimpses of his personality outside his daddy issues but that's it. The movie could've also explored more of his status as a social pariah & his relationship with anyone who wasn't Garmadon but there was hardly anything else to Lloyd other than trying to reconnect with his father, who was the only character he had any meaningful interactions with. He barely interacted with the other ninja & he had only 3 interactions with Koko, the last one suffering from the aforementioned mediocre pacing. Heck, he doesn't even get as much emphasis as a ninja (& the leader no less) & master builder as he did as an angsty teen. There was also more to him that could've been done but wasn't. Lloyd's entire character began & ended with his daddy issues that overshadowed everything else about him & ended up consuming the entire movie. They might as well call it the Lego Daddy Issues Go Movie.

In the end, my score would be 7 or 8 out of 10. It's really an enjoyable film but it has its glaring flaws.

Need to let this out. Even if the movie had done better, it's gonna be overshadowed by the My Little Pony movie anyway.

Now, on to some Destiny plans.

The ninja & kunoichi will go through an 'introductory arc' that will be set before the events of the movie & there will be a time gap between Lloyd's birthday & the events that happen afterward where the team go through a bunch of misadventures. The ninja will go through their own character growth & get to know each other & Lloyd will also have some darker emotions. Also, the big fight between Lloyd & Iris WILL happen, I won't say when but it will. I promise.

Finally, here's the obligatory drabble because I have a headcanon that whenever a book is made into a show or movie, Jay would be that smug fan who already read the books.

The ninja were watching another episode of Game of Crowns but for some reason, Jay added something extra next to the sofa.

"Jay, what's that webcam for?" Lloyd asked.

"What?" The lightning ninja replied quizzically, "Is there something wrong trying to capture memories so they'll last forever?"

"Whatever..."

And then the rest of the ninja knew why he did… in the worst way possible.

As the grisly Black Wedding from the books made it onto the screen, the ninja were losing their shit except for Jay, who just gave a smug smirk throughout the ordeal, having seen it coming since he read the books & ready to put his friends' reactions on PewTube.


End file.
